A reminder here of Kurran’s first diary.
Today we discover why he has come to a big decision over his course with the Foundation staff and also why he was one of the few – or only – people associated with the Foundation who were pleased with the result of the Black Country derby!
KURRAN’S DIARY
Thinking back to what has happened since I wrote my first diary, I spent Christmas at home which went well.
My sister is a nurse and, due to their rotas where if you worked three in a row you get the fourth one off, it was the first Christmas for a long time where she didn’t have to work on Christmas Day.
She is on the frontline and obviously it has been a very difficult and challenging time with the pandemic so it was nice for her to have Christmas off and for us all to spend it together.
Obviously it was still smaller than normal and not all the family could come around but it was nice to spend it with my parents and my sister.
And then New Year was much quieter than what I am used to!
That was the same as my birthday on Christmas Eve, which wasn’t quite what I was considering either.
But it was still nice in a sense to have a quieter celebration although overall I think it was nice to get rid of 2020 and hopefully look forward to better times ahead in the future.
Things have changed for me with the degree course.
I had an eye operation last year which I mentioned in my last diary which meant I missed a lot of the online tuition and so, after speaking to Brad (Moore) from the Foundation, we have decided that I will re-do the year in September.
I am still involved with the course this year and still planning to take part in the residential as well as continuing my placement, but I will start the year again with all the lectures and assignments in September.
It seemed the right thing to do for all of us given how much I had missed, and means I can come back and restart fresh for my second year in September.
My eye operation went well, I am still going for check-ups and the good news is that it is getting better and better.
As I say I have carried on with my placement which has been with the Foundation’s Head 4 Health project which has continued online.
I know the walk and talk sessions are due to start again when restrictions are eased and that will be really good, to see a few faces again rather than online.
As I mentioned before, I am a West Bromwich Albion fan, which makes it a bit lively being involved with Wolves, especially after we won the Black Country derby!
Every Tuesday with Head 4 Health we catch up online which includes plenty of football talk and banter as they know who I support!
I made sure I was on early for the first session after the Wolves game and was there on my laptop, waiting for everyone to arrive. For a while I didn’t think anyone else was going to turn up!
There were certainly plenty of mixed emotions during the game itself. To go ahead, and then go 2-1 down before half time, I feared the worst if I am honest.
But then we came back to win in what was probably our best game of the season as well as catching Wolves on a poor day.
The other guys took it well in the Head 4 Health session after – if it was the other way around they would have done the same to me and at least I have a bit of time to enjoy it, at least until we play again in May!
Away from the degree and placement I am just glad that there is a roadmap now in place for hopefully the easing of restrictions over the coming months.
As a 21-year-old lad I just want to get out there and hopefully enjoy the summer as much as I can!
I have already booked to go to several festivals and am looking forward to getting back out as well as watching the Euros so let’s hope that things continue to move in the right direction.
I think this last year has obviously been very difficult for a lot of people and we have had a lot of discussions around mental health.
The number of people struggling has gone up massively and it has affected people differently.
When we hopefully come out of it at the other end we will need to get to grips with what has happened and how it has affected us but it will be good to get back to a bit of normality.
Let’s hope that is what we are talking about when we get to my next instalment!
